West Caldwell Poet Publishes Guidebook For Would-Be Poets

A West Caldwell author has a new book for aspiring poets. 

Diane Lockward recently came out with "The Crafty Poet: A Portable Workshop" that was published by Wind Publications.

The book is a poetry tutorial to inform and inspire poets of all ages. It includes model poems and prompts, writing tips, and interviews with poets.

A former high school English teacher, Lockward works as a poet-in-the-schools for both the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

Lockward’s poems have been featured on Poetry Daily and Verse Daily and Garrison Keillor’s The Writer’s Almanac, and her poems have been published in several anthologies. In addition, her poems have appeared in such journals as Prairie Schooner, Harvard Review, and Spoon River Poetry Review. 

Lockward is the recipient of a poetry fellowship from the NJ State Council on the Arts, the first place prize in the 2012 Naugatuck River Poetry Review Contest, and awards from North American Review, Louisiana Literature, and the Journal of New Jersey Poets. She read her work at the 2006 Dodge Poetry Festival.

Lockwood's other publications include:

• "Temptation by Water"
• "What Feeds Us," which received the 2006 Quentin R. Howard Poetry Prize
• "Eve's Red Dress"